In most of my experiences surfing, you either hire boards from a surf shop, or they’re available as part of a hostels policy.

So When I arrived in Salvador, Brazil, having heard about the surfing (and windsurfing) scene there; I was excited to get going. The owner of the hostel I was staying in pointed towards Praia de Jaguaribe, identifying this as the best deal for renting surfboards. He even dropped an exact pin of a surf spot he recommended (see below).

The next morning we headed off to the beach, but when we arrived at the location there wasn’t a surf shop in sight. Simply beach accompanied by a small car park and a busy road. I wandered around for 10 minutes before we saw a man emerge from what looked like a ditch at the side of the road with a surfboard. Both confused and in disbelief that this was the place I was looking for I wandered over and I was shocked at what I found…

Under this bridge, these locals had set up their own surf spot. Under there there were hundreds of surfboards, a wider selection than I’d seen in any of the ‘more professional’ shops I’d used previously. The people there told me that many of the boards are donated by surfers when they get new boards.

My board cost me 70 Brazilian Reis (around £11) to rent for the entire day. I wasn’t asked to leave anything in exchange for the board, it was only their faith in my own good will that I would bring the board back – which of course I did.